I ended up getting the Phanteks PH-TC14pe HSF earlier today and here is a mini review of it along with comparison to my previous Scythe HSF (low profile Shuriken Rev B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185097).
Here is the box:
And when removed from the box (there is a thin foam spacer that is on top of it to protect during shipping):
Opening the inner cardboard. This is when I realize how great the color is. It's a rich dark red, and really the color I wish that Lian Li's red anodizing was instead of the lighter red that it is:
Accessories:
Installation was fairly simple. Didn't get any pics as it's the same as the Noctua D14 and many other aftermarket HSF's. Install the back plate, put on the rubber sound strips, attach to the mobo, install fans. Here is a pic in the FT02 case:
Once it was in I was worried about clearance as this thing is very large. It does appear that Lian Li designed this case with this or the D14 in mind though as the 120 mm fan on the top of the case is just about perfectly lined up with the fans on the HSF. Unfortunately one of the fans was unbalanced and would hit the fins so I need to submit a RMA and get a replacement fan from Phanteks. But to show how close this thing is to the side of the FT02 here are some pics:
And here it is with the window and fully installed:
Mini-review:
I am pretty impressed with it so far. First it's a beautiful red. Very rich in color and basically a blood red. It is massive, so there are definitely issues with fitting in some cases but if you're going to buy this type of HSF you're going to know that already. Regular memory is fine, you have about 1/2 inch or so between my standard Corsair (non-Dominator) memory. The fans push a lot of air and are fairly quiet without the included resistor to drop fan speed. With it they are near silent. It's well constructed and the instructions are pretty good if you haven't installed a HSF like this previously. The only thing that confused me for a few was figuring out how to mount the fans. I didn't realize there are plastic things the clips connect to at first. Also the one fan is imbalanced and is hitting the fins on the HSF though (the other fan is totally fine), and will be submitting an RMA to see how that goes. Enough typing though, here is what you're here for. The results. I solely tested on a 30 min run of Prime95+Furmark to stress graphics and attempt to increase case temp. Basically ran the system at 100% load on CPU/GPU. First up, what it was with my old Scythe:
Yeah, almost 90 degrees C. That's very troubling. I think it was in part because of the case and in part because of the fan (it was blowing down towards the mobo which in this case would cause it to suck in some warmer air). Not good. Luckily I rarely ever stressed the CPU previously. So what does the Phantek do for me? Keep in mind this is a fan on the top and bottom of the cooler with no fan in the middle (since the one fan is unbalanced I put it at the bottom for now). I plan to put in a 3rd fan to see what that does in the future for testing. Well take a look:
So everything is exactly the same, solely different HSF. Dropped by 33 degrees C. That's impressive. I'm pretty happy with that. It's on par with entirely sealed water systems (not real loops obviously).
Summary: If you're thinking about this HSF, buy it. It's great.
Here is the box:
And when removed from the box (there is a thin foam spacer that is on top of it to protect during shipping):
Opening the inner cardboard. This is when I realize how great the color is. It's a rich dark red, and really the color I wish that Lian Li's red anodizing was instead of the lighter red that it is:
Accessories:
Installation was fairly simple. Didn't get any pics as it's the same as the Noctua D14 and many other aftermarket HSF's. Install the back plate, put on the rubber sound strips, attach to the mobo, install fans. Here is a pic in the FT02 case:
Once it was in I was worried about clearance as this thing is very large. It does appear that Lian Li designed this case with this or the D14 in mind though as the 120 mm fan on the top of the case is just about perfectly lined up with the fans on the HSF. Unfortunately one of the fans was unbalanced and would hit the fins so I need to submit a RMA and get a replacement fan from Phanteks. But to show how close this thing is to the side of the FT02 here are some pics:
And here it is with the window and fully installed:
Mini-review:
I am pretty impressed with it so far. First it's a beautiful red. Very rich in color and basically a blood red. It is massive, so there are definitely issues with fitting in some cases but if you're going to buy this type of HSF you're going to know that already. Regular memory is fine, you have about 1/2 inch or so between my standard Corsair (non-Dominator) memory. The fans push a lot of air and are fairly quiet without the included resistor to drop fan speed. With it they are near silent. It's well constructed and the instructions are pretty good if you haven't installed a HSF like this previously. The only thing that confused me for a few was figuring out how to mount the fans. I didn't realize there are plastic things the clips connect to at first. Also the one fan is imbalanced and is hitting the fins on the HSF though (the other fan is totally fine), and will be submitting an RMA to see how that goes. Enough typing though, here is what you're here for. The results. I solely tested on a 30 min run of Prime95+Furmark to stress graphics and attempt to increase case temp. Basically ran the system at 100% load on CPU/GPU. First up, what it was with my old Scythe:
Yeah, almost 90 degrees C. That's very troubling. I think it was in part because of the case and in part because of the fan (it was blowing down towards the mobo which in this case would cause it to suck in some warmer air). Not good. Luckily I rarely ever stressed the CPU previously. So what does the Phantek do for me? Keep in mind this is a fan on the top and bottom of the cooler with no fan in the middle (since the one fan is unbalanced I put it at the bottom for now). I plan to put in a 3rd fan to see what that does in the future for testing. Well take a look:
So everything is exactly the same, solely different HSF. Dropped by 33 degrees C. That's impressive. I'm pretty happy with that. It's on par with entirely sealed water systems (not real loops obviously).
Summary: If you're thinking about this HSF, buy it. It's great.
Last edited:
. I had bought that case prior to buying the FT02, but it was damaged in shipping unfortunately so it just got returned. I liked the case a lot, but there were issues I had with it still which was why I didn't get a replacement. I do like the FT02 a lot though.
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